Western AA: Bravettes falter late In loss to Big Sky
BUTTE — A strong third quarter and a couple double-doubles weren’t quite enough for the Flathead Bravettes Thursday, in their 52-42 loss to Missoula Big Sky at the Western AA girls basketball divisional.
Kennedy Moore had 20 points and 12 rebounds, Sami Dalager checked in with 11 points and 10 boards and the Bravettes (5-14) found themselves with a pair of leads over the tournament’s top seed.
A flurry of 3-pointers helped Big Sky survive and make Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal against Helena Capital. The Bruins handled Missoula Sentinel 56-30 in Thursday’s second game at the Butte Civic Center.
Flathead fell into a 12:30 p.m. loser-out game with the Spartans.
Big Sky 52, Flathead 42
At 3:55 of the third quarter Moore banked in an 8-footer to put her team up 25-24; at 2:37 Celie VandenBosch hit a pair of free throws for a 27-26 Flathead lead.
Big Sky (16-3) jumped back in front, 32-27, with back-to-back 3-pointers from Kyler Latrielle and Sadie McQuinn. While the Bravettes kept the pressure on, the Eagles held on.
Two more threes, from Audrey Hale and Latrielle, made it 38-33 with 6:50 left in the game. But what really hurt the Bravettes was a two-minute stretch where, trailing just 40-37, they played good defense and couldn’t get the rebound.
Big Sky missed seven straight shots — Flathead got off one in that span — before Kaydynce Couture’s put-back of the last miss made it 42-37 with 3:28 left.
On their next possession Hale knocked down the Eagles’ eighth three of the game for a 45-37 lead with 2:53 remaining.
Dalager staked Flathead to an early 4-0 lead. Couture scored a game-high 22 points for Big Sky, to go with 12 boards. McGuinn hit three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points.
Flathead and Sentinel split their regular-season meetings, each winning on the other team’s floor.
Flathead 6 12 11 13 - 42
Big Sky 13 8 11 20 - 52
FLATHEAD — Kennedy Moore 8-22 0-0 20, Harli Roth 1-4 2-2 4, Sami Dalager 4-8 3-3 11, Quin Tennison 1-2 0-0 2, Celie VandenBosch 1-7 2-2 5, Ava Malmin 0-1 0-0 0, Mattie Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Chloe Converse 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 15-47 7-7 42.
MISSOULA BIG SKY — Kaydynce Couture 8-19 5-8 22, Audrey Hale 3-9 1-2 9, Mya Hubbard 0-4 0-2 0, Kyler Latrielle 3-13 0-0 8, Sadie McGuinn 4-9 0-2 11, Tanya Kirilovich 0-1 0-2 0, Tina Kirilovich 1-3 0-0 2, Gianna Janacaro 0-1 0-0 0, Delaney Laird 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-59 6-16 52.
3-point goals — Flathead 5-15 (Moore 4-5, VandenBosch 1-2), Big Sky 8-23 (McGuinn 3-5, Hale 2-4, Latrielle 2-7, Couture 1-5). Rebounds — Flathead 29 (Moore 12, Dalager 10), Big Sky 38 (Couture 12, Janacaro 7). Fouls — Flathead 14, Big Sky 13. Fouled out — VandenBosch. Turnovers — Flathead 21, Big Sky 9.
Capital 56, Sentinel 30
Taylor Sayers hit six 3-pointers in 10 attempts and scored 20 points for Capital, which turned a 27-18 halftime lead into a runaway.
Riley Chandler added 10 points off the bench for the Bruins (10-9).
Emily McElmurry scored 11 points for the Spartans, who shot just 26 percent and fell to 8-11.